tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372061022011-04-21T15:34:14.978-05:00Dedicating a year to soul-searching the modern day car-free commute.Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.comBlogger151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-4303185625603296792007-12-06T17:16:00.000-05:002007-12-17T18:01:28.409-05:00

Okay. I know it's been months since the last update, but let's just forget all that, say I was too busy busing it to blog, and celebrate the fact that my car-free year has come and gone, and I am still sans car. A little recap of the highs and lows of saying goodbye to Cecelia and taking to the streets by foot: HighsEmissions. What emissions? 15 novels, 30 magazines and 12 gazillion daily

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-6579869941837322112007-07-17T14:14:00.000-05:002007-07-17T14:56:24.172-05:00

Two items on the bicycle commuting front:The Europeans are at it again with their smarty-pants ideas about getting around car-free. On Sunday, Paris launched a huge new bike-sharing scheme, putting 10,600 bikes into circulation around the city. Now Parisians and tourists can Le Tour around the famous city car-free.Way to go, Paris.Second on the list: Beer and Bikes.My favorite hometown brewery,

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-41563030138636680882007-06-06T12:18:00.002-05:002009-03-02T18:58:20.318-05:00

Sure, sometimes I long for the wide open roads of the West and an old-fashioned, stop and eat foot-tall banana cream pie in every diner between here and Tallahassee, road trip. But as summer dawns, and my feet get to itching (oh how they itch!), I've managed to get out of town a couple of times already without owning a car. It can be done, and truth-be-told, these little getaways were far easier

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-92093435119978276602007-05-29T15:02:00.000-05:002007-05-29T16:07:25.938-05:00

An upside (98% of the time) of commuting by foot is that I'm far more sensitive to the details. No more so when I'm sitting next to a man who has been living on the streets or when I'm walking the last half a mile to the office under a canopy of trees.Now, when I walk, bike, bus and carpool, it's like exploring a whole new (olfactory) map of the world.A few of the smells that frequently populate

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-41536389453539152622007-04-28T19:17:00.000-05:002007-04-28T20:59:14.427-05:00

In my attempt to learn more about other forms of transportation and resource sharing, I ran across this 2006 Wired article detailing a new approach to the old idea (at least in Amsterdam) of public bikes for use in urban areas: The rent-a-bike scheme, called Vélo'v Grand Lyon, is open to anyone armed with a credit card. It costs 1 euro ($1.20) an hour, but there is no charge for the first 30

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-62498429643418799102007-04-01T17:47:00.000-05:002007-04-01T18:05:52.329-05:00

My feet, they are tired, eh. But I've discovered a new form of transportation:Sledding!

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-19748612684918099492007-03-20T18:40:00.000-05:002007-05-30T14:11:42.403-05:00

So Girl on Foot grabbed her honey and got the hell out of town.We cut out of work early on Friday, packed some grub and fled 96 miles west into the Shenandoah mountains.Without. A. Car. (er, sort of).After going car-free some months ago, I became a member of both Zipcar and Flexcar, two of the major national car sharing companies with brilliantly green business plans based on the idea of helping

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-60304819519309374682007-03-13T10:18:00.000-05:002007-03-13T11:20:23.053-05:00

In Colorado, where I grew up, most ski resort towns find themselves with the exact same problem that recently prompted Disneyland to conjure magical teams of lawyers charged with putting the kibosh on condo development close to the fantasyland. The sand in Micky's shorts seems to stem from planned condos (some zoned for affordable housing) intended to shorten the commutes for workers. AP reported

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-41648661139590932882007-03-08T11:13:00.000-05:002007-03-08T11:30:04.650-05:00

Don't know what "slugging" is? I didn't either until a few weeks ago when a (far more hip) fellow car-free commuter put me in the know.Slugging is modern day hitchhiking for the common commuter. Awesome! You wait in a designated spot, and someone in a car comes by and picks you up. Why would they pick you, a total stranger, up? So they can get into the HOV lane. No muss. No fuss. Just a ride on

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-43442022516534172842007-03-07T17:44:00.000-05:002007-03-07T18:00:54.185-05:00

I hoof it no less than a mile or two a day to get to and from work (by foot that is...that doesnt include the 60 or so miles covered by metro and bus). When I bike from the metro, I ride 5-10 miles a day.Now...on days like today, when I am tired of the city; and the sidewalks; and slush, cars, pollution, noise, cranky commuters, angry bus drivers, work clothes, cubicles, meetings (sweet jesus,

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-23353085382352838452007-02-13T23:42:00.000-05:002007-02-13T23:57:58.054-05:00

I discovered a new* bus that cuts cross town and goes a ton of places I often want to go. Which is great.Also on this bus; a dude selling socks. Two packages for five bucks. A pretty good deal.I have small feet, so I didn't bite (sock tip: socks sold in bulk, even on buses, are never small), but it did get me wondering ... why isn't there more of this? And why, oh why, can't there be someone

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-11938005567275453732007-01-08T11:23:00.000-05:002007-01-11T14:35:44.933-05:00

Every couple of years, I have a near-religious experience during my commute. This oh-so-rare moment in morning madness is precipitated by everyone on the bus or metro car (and I'm talking 30-50 people here) agreeing that it is far too early in the morning to:talk to each othertalk on our cell phonestote around any infants or children that make noiseturn up our iPods to "broadcast mode" (even

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-30715557243699698782007-01-03T12:47:00.000-05:002007-01-04T12:17:31.263-05:00

Whether you've got Irish blood coursing through your veins or not, I recommend a traditional (or non-traditional) wake to help ease one's passing into car-lessness.What you need:An Irish barAn open tabIndulgent friendsMoney for the jukeboxA photo of your recently-deceased car (optional)What you do:Gather in said Irish bar. Order drinks of choice (beer and whiskey recommended). Play music that you

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-74042408100040316662007-01-03T12:11:00.000-05:002007-01-03T12:27:14.276-05:00

It's been months since I decided to give up my car. I cancelled my insurance. I decided to donate the car to my local public radio station. (It's not worth selling. Besides, I don’t want to know who's driving my car around. It would be too sad. Really, it's better this way.)Months later, my car is still parked two blocks from my house, collecting dust, bird crap and the wrath of my neighbors, who

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37206102.post-1165447388514453252006-12-06T17:19:00.000-05:002006-12-07T14:48:22.283-05:00

I loved my car. I bought CC (full name: Cecelia, the Chilean Cowgirl), a four-door 1988 metallic blue Subaru wagon, nearly six years ago in Denver from a postal worker, the kind of guy who obeys the speed limit, keeps the original key from the dealer in its original box for 12 years, and fanatically changes the oil every 3-5 thousand miles.CC was everything a young, green-leaning Western girl

Girl on Foothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619660317168550916noreply@blogger.com0